


Buttercrunch

by two_of_swords



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Ice Cream, M/M, Pynch Week 2018, SO MUCH FLUFF, psychic adam, seriously so sweet, you might get a cavity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 01:03:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15401538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/two_of_swords/pseuds/two_of_swords
Summary: Adam and Ronan go on a mini summer adventure to find the perfect flavor of ice cream.Pynch Week 2018 Day 2: “It won’t be what you imagined, but it’ll be just as good.”





	Buttercrunch

Adam has a rare afternoon off work on a muggy day in the middle of summer, so Ronan suggests they go for a drive. It’s becoming a routine for them when they have the time. They drive along the ley line, through the valley and the mountains, scouting locations for Ronan’s new dreamplace and discussing the things they both want it to be. 

Sometimes they stop to explore a trail or a battlefield or some other Virginia roadside oddity. Sometimes they make out in the car. Their drives are the closest thing they have to dates and, to Adam, they are perfect.

Tonight, Adam suggests they stop for ice cream on the way back to the Barns, his treat. He watches Ronan study the handwritten flavors on the board next to the order window long after Adam has chosen his own flavor.

“Lynch?” Adam asks, getting impatient. Ronan ignores him.

Adam casually glances over his shoulder to assess the restless crowd gathering in line behind them.

Ronan asks if he can taste something called Malted Moo Crunch. What the hell? Adam doesn’t even want to know what ingredients are in that flavor, especially the crunchy part. Adam notices that most of the flavors, for some godforsaken reason, have the word crunch in their name somewhere.

Ronan pops the tiny spoon sample into his mouth and immediately scrunches up his nose in disgust. It’s kind of adorable.

Adam grins at him. “No good?”

“Fuck, no. This shit’s gross.”

The far too patient girl on the other side of the window wearing a badge that says “Super Scooper” suggests that maybe she should take another customer while they decide.

“No, I’m ready.”

“You sure?”

Ronan stares at the board again. The lady behind them huffs.

Adam quickly orders his Cookies & Cream in a sugar cone to try to force Ronan’s hand.

“Just give me Heath Bar Crunch in a cup,” he finally says, sounding defeated.

Adam thinks the crowd would probably cheer if they could without it getting too weird. Whatever. It’s progress. He pays and the Super Scooper hands them their treats and Adam places his free hand on the small of Ronan’s back and guides him to the picnic tables under a copse of trees on the side of the building.

Ronan takes a bite of his ice cream and makes a disgruntled noise.

“What?” Adam asks, licking a drip off the side of his cone.

“I knew this wouldn’t be it.” He sets the cup down on the table and shoves it away.

“What exactly are you looking for?”

“A certain flavor. I remember it from when I was a kid. It was my mom’s favorite. It tasted like... butterscotch, I guess... and had these little toffee bits in it. I don’t remember what it’s called.”

“Well, don’t waste that. Go get a lid. Even if it melts, Opal will probably still eat it.”

“She won’t like it either. There’s not enough tree bark in it.”

“Isn’t that the crunchy part?”

Ronan snorts.

Adam finishes his own ice cream and then he finishes Ronan’s. It tastes fine to him.

 

By the time they get back to the Barns, Adam has an idea. He asks Ronan if he can borrow his laptop for  _ school stuff  _ which is a guarantee that Ronan won’t ask any questions. He researches and jots down notes in a notebook he found next to the computer and draws a crude map of his plan. He catches a glimpse of the clock in the corner of the screen and realizes he’s been at it for hours and it’s late and he should probably be heading back to Henrietta soon.

He finds Ronan lounging in the the window seat in the living room perusing one of the summer reading paperbacks that Adam brought with him.

“You doing my homework for me, Lynch?” Adam asks. “I expect a full book report by tomorrow.” He dumps his map in Ronan’s lap.

“Fuck you. What’s this?”

“Every ice cream stand in the valley, along with the potential flavors that fit the description you gave.”

Ronan studies it for a long time, then he looks up at Adam with the stupidest grin on his face that Adam has ever seen. “God, you are such a nerd.”

There isn’t a realm or plane or state of being that exists where Adam would take that as anything other than a compliment.

“When should we start?”

“Tomorrow.”

 

They visit six different ice cream stands over the course of two weeks and at each place, the conversation goes something like this:

“So?”

“Nope. Not it.”

“What if that kind of ice cream doesn’t exist anymore?”

“You’re so optimistic.”

“I’m just saying. Maybe you need to find a different flavor that  _ you _ like and make it your own.”

“What if I don’t like any of them.”

“We’ll make a new list.”

“How many?”

“As many as it takes. Just promise me you’ll keep an open mind. Maybe it won’t be what you imagined, but it’ll be just as good.”

“I take it back. You’re not a nerd. You’re a shithead.”

Adam also takes that as a compliment. Love is such a strange thing.

 

Adam is restless one night at St. Agnes. It’s hot and he can’t sleep, so he throws an arm over his face and escapes into the blackness pressing against his eyes. His goal is to push his unconscious mind just enough to see what kind of connections he can make, if he can make any connections at all. He hasn’t tried it since Cabeswater died. 

He’s rewarded with a vision of Ronan’s tattoo. The rest of Ronan appears to be naked, which is incredibly unhelpful in keeping Adam’s unconscious mind detached from his conscious one. When he zooms out a bit, he realizes that Ronan is pointing at something. It looks like one of those ice cream flavor boards, but he can’t focus enough to make out the words on it. He gets a few letters: A “K” and an “F” and then the cursed word _crunch_. His concentration breaks and he loses the thread. He tries again to see if he can get a clearer picture, but he’s out of practice and falls asleep instead. The next thing he knows, it’s morning. He wonders if it wasn’t just a dream after all.

 

By the time they are on the way to the seventh place on the list, a few days later, Adam thinks maybe this whole thing has been a terrible mistake. The sight of ice cream is starting to make him a little queasy. But Adam is not one to give up on a challenge once it has been presented to him, so they press on. And this place has about half a dozen flavors that seem promising.

When Ronan pulls the BMW into the wide gravel lot in front of the barn-shaped building with a row of walk-up windows lining the front, Adam catches a glimpse of the big sign on top of the roof and his senses start to tingle. The place is called _K_ imball _F_ arm. Adam is overwhelmed with the feeling that he’s been here before.

Ronan pulls the now well-used map out of his pocket and smooths it out against the steering wheel.

“There are six options here that could work. Which one looks best?” Ronan asks. He holds the paper out to Adam.

Adam scans his own handwriting and stops when he sees the only flavor that it could possibly be. “This one,” he says, confidently.

“Buttercrunch,” Ronan says. “Yes, Parrish. That sounds right.”

Adam knows, but he still crosses his fingers when Ronan places his order.

They cross the road with their ice cream and take a seat on a rock wall ledge overlooking the valley. Ronan hesitates before raising his spoon to take a bite. Adam watches him carefully.

“This is it,” he says, almost immediately, his face breaking out into that loose, true smile that Adam loves and would do anything to achieve. Even spend a whole summer searching for the perfect flavor of ice cream. “How did you know?”

“I’m psychic,” Adam grins, then he leans over and kisses Ronan. His lips taste sweet like butterscotch and toffee. When they part, Ronan says, “here, try some” and feeds Adam a spoonful.

“It’s really good,” Adam admits. He finishes his own ice cream, but not without stealing a couple more willing bites from Ronan.

“So what’s next, Parrish?”

“Well, we still need to find a location for your new dreamplace and we haven’t explored much in this area,” Adam says, gesturing to the vast stretch of mountains behind them.

Something complicated crosses Ronan’s face and Adam thinks he knows why.

“I’m rusty, but I think with a little practice, I can help you focus your thoughts when you dream.”

“Even without Cabeswater?”

Adam nods.

Ronan grabs his hand and laces their fingers together. “Magician,” he says and nudges Adam with his shoulder. 

It’s a relief to hear him say it. Adam kisses him again. He doesn’t need his psychic senses to know that it’s a make-out-in-the-car kind of night. They have plenty of time left for exploring. They return to the BMW, hand in hand.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I had to move a popular MA ice cream stand to VA because I was spending way to much time trying to come up with something original. *shrug emoji*


End file.
